Another blocked kitty!

[Prairie Purrs]

This morning Caly was trying unsuccessfully to urinate in the kitchen. I immediately scooped him into a carrier and dashed off to the vet's. Yep--blocked! My second blocked kitty in a year.

I hadn't observed any trouble signs before today, although it would have been possible for him to have done some litterbox-hopping without my knowing it. The vet had to cath him, but the blockage apparently flushed out pretty easily. Poor baby will have to stay at the vet's through the weekend.

I just hope it's not Gatsby part II, with repeated blockages and eventual surgery. Caly's only three years old, and it worries me that he's having troubles at such a young age.

Please send some healing thoughts to my little tabby boy.

[Randi]

Sorry to hear Caly was blocked. Fister has been through that and ended up having THE operation, as he blocked up every three months. I hope the right diet will help keep him good - you have to be very strict with it, though. No shrimps at all!

Sending lots of good wishes that he will get better and not block up again.

Kisses and scritches from us when he gets home.

[Prairie Purrs]

I thought that the food I was feeding everybody would make it less likely that anyone else would have UT issues: high-quality canned foods (mostly grain-free varieties), including Wellness, Nature's Variety, and Weruva, and EVO dry food. Guess I need to do more research. My vet isn't helpful because he doesn't really know that much about feline nutrition.

[Killearn Kitties]

It's not something I have any experience with at all, but we are all sending good thoughts to Caly and we will keep our fingers and paws crossed!

[moosmom]

Penny,

I've been feeding my cats Wilderness. I split one can of wet food between the 5 of them so they only get about a teaspoon each. The Wilderness is all natural and has no animal bi-products or garbage like Iams and all the others. I've never had a problem with them getting blocked.

I hope Cali's feeling better.

[Prairie Purrs]

I tried Wilderness once, but it didn't go over too well. These guys are pretty picky. They don't want much to do with the EVO canned, for example, although they like EVO dry. But the brands they're eating are supposed to be top-notch, and they eat a variety. So I don't know what's going on.

It's too quiet around here without my troublemaker. I hope he's going on his own by Monday and can come home.

[moosmom]

"I hope he's going on his own by Monday and can come home."

Me too. Keep us posted.

[king2005]

I'm a believer that raw foods help prevent most digestion issues, cause dogs & cats were never meant to eat cooked foods, well in the large amounts we feed it to them.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear that you have another blocked kitty. When you feed your cats canned food, do you also add some water to it? This is what I've been doing with my cats so that they'll get more moisture. I've heard that stress can also contribute to this problem. The most important thing to do is to make sure that he drinks plenty of water every day. This is why canned food is so important in a cats diet because many of them won't drink enough. I hope he won't have to have the PU surgery and that he'll be able to come home on Monday. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

[Randi]

If it's Struvite crystals that is the problem, the diet has to have VERY low quantities of Ash, Calcium and Phospheros. Check the food for those numbers. The vet should know that!

Sasvermont posted a very good link years back about this - do a search!

Fingers and paws crossed that he can go on his own very soon!

[Medusa]

I'm sorry to hear this. I've never had this issue w/any of my Fur Posse but I sure can sympathize w/you, though. It really seems to be a common problem. I do hope that Caly is feeling better very soon.

[Prairie Purrs]

I do mix water into their canned food, and they have a water fountain that I know Caly drinks from. I'm beginning to wonder, though, whether the local water could be part of the problem. It's definitely hard water, so maybe the mineral content is an issue. I use a Brita filter on the faucet, and there's a filter in the cats' fountain, but maybe that's not enough.

[Catty1]

Maybe a Brita pitcher just for the kitties' water?

I'm trying to picture a filter on a pet water fountain, and can't picture it...maybe it isn't working as well as it might?

With a pitcher, it would be double-filtered at least.

I think it was Catlady that mentioned she uses filtered water all the time, as the minerals in untreated water can cause these problems.

Hope your baby is home on Monday!

[Prairie Purrs]

Before I installed the Brita faucet filter, I used a Brita pitcher for all their water. Gatsby still blocked, though. The Petmate fountains use charcoal filters.

I think I may start buying gallon jugs of drinking water for the cats. Just in case.

[kb2yjx]

As another Mom with a kitty going with the same problem---Here is a BIG HUG and prayers!!! Our cats drink spring water. When we had a pet fountain, I put the spring water in there. We have well water, with a very high iron content. So to be safe, they get the spring water....